Lions Club Jubilee may move back downtown (with video)

LAKE ORION >> The Lions Club Jubilee may return downtown this summer after four years at Canterbury Village in the township.

The popular carnival has been a major fundraising event for the group since 1980 and had traditionally been held downtown. The Lions Club moved the event to Canterbury Village while downtown Lake Orion completed a streetscape project.

Now, the carnival may be moved back.

Since Canterbury Village is selling some of its property, there will be less room there for the amusement park. The proposal will be considered at the regular village council meeting at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10, at village hall at 37 E. Flint St.

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“It’s positive when you have an event that brings so many people downtown,” said Suzanne Perreault, executive director of the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority. “It’s great exposure for your community and your businesses.”

If approved by the council, the carnival would be held June 19-June 22 on Broadway and Flint streets. The roads would be closed one block north, south, east and west of the main intersection to make room for more than a dozen carnival rides as well as games and concession stands.

Before bringing the idea to the council, the DDA surveyed the downtown businesses to see if there was support for the program. Out of 150 businesses in the downtown district, 60 responded and the majority favored the move, Perreault said.

There is some concern about whether having the carnival would damage the brickwork that was so recently installed along the streets.

“Everyone including myself is very protective of our new downtown streetscape we finished in 2011,” she said. “It’s very important to us that the integrity of the streetscape remain.”

Skerbeck Brothers Shows, an Escanaba-based business, has run the carnival for a few years.

Besides the fact that it would be downtown, the Lions Club also may bring back a beer tent - which was a big hit at the carnival years ago. Plans are to have a beer tent in the municipal parking lot with live entertainment, said Joe Hildebrand, a Lions Club member.

In addition, the group is considering organizing shuttle buses to help people get downtown. Finding parking can be difficult, since the carnival takes up many of the public spaces, he said.

Typically, the Lions Club raises more than $10,000 from the fair, but with the addition of the beer tent, that could rise to more than $15,000. The nonprofit group, which is part of an international organization, holds fundraising events throughout the year to support local charities.

“It’s to raise dollars to help people in need in the community,” Hildebrand said. “We’re hoping to bring more people downtown.”